White Fur is an interesting spin on the star-crossed lovers trope. This is not a love story that will sweep readers off their feet. Jardine Libaire has written a book that is raw, gritty, and rich in description. It has a dark, melancholic feel to it that stayed with me throughout the book’s entirety. It is oddly alluring and pulled me into the lives of the characters. My curiosity was piqued early on, and I wanted to find out what was going to become of this couple.

Elise Perez is a poor, hardened, uneducated, multiracial young woman who has left her mother and siblings behind to begin a new life for herself. Jamey Hyde is a rich, Ivy League student who was born to an actress and an investment bank magnate. They came from different backgrounds, but ended up living next door to one another in New Haven. There is a curiosity, interest, and attraction that develops quickly between Elise and Jamey that becomes impossible for either of them to ignore. This attraction turns into a sexual relationship that is intense and consuming.

There is something that is appealing about a romance between two unlikely people. While Elise and Jamey were opposites in many ways, they also had similarities. They both wanted to escape the lives that they were born into, and they both wanted to feel and be loved. They both seemed to find refuge in each other, but at the same time, I found their connection and relationship to have an awkward feel to it. The need was there, the desire was there, but there just seemed to be something missing or lacking between them.

White Fur takes readers on a trip back in time to New York City in 1986 and 1987 - a time of excess, glamour, and pop culture. Elise and Jamey were living, breathing, and experiencing life in the big city. During their relationship, they lived large, they struggled, they tried to find their way together. Their relationship was complicated, messy, and full of emotion.

White Fur is a unique story that kept my interest throughout. I never felt truly comfortable while reading it. I felt as though I was peeking through my fingers at something that I shouldn’t be watching but couldn’t look away from. I was unsure of how Elise and Jamey’s story would play out. Despite their feelings, they seemed doomed right from the start.

With every turn of the page, I was left with a sense of foreboding. Could their relationship survive despite all the odds? I had to know how it would all end. The story was moving along at a consistent pace for the majority of the book, but in my opinion, the ending didn’t keep up with the overall feel and tone of the book. While I usually enjoy it when an author is able to pull the proverbial rug out from under me and surprise me with an ending, the ending of White Fur left me feeling empty. With that being said, White Fur was still a compelling read and I would definitely read another book by Jardine Libaire in the future.

*3.5 - 4 Stars

White Fur is a raw, gritty modern romance, but if you're looking for a feel-good love story full of flowers and rainbows - look elsewhere. The relationship between the two main characters, Elise and Jamey, is complicated and disturbing. I would even go as far as to say that is was bordering on obsessive. The book gives a creepy vibe and I felt on edge the entire time I was reading. Although the story starts out slow and never really picks up, it was easy to want to keep reading because I wanted to see how it all played out, especially since the prologue suggests things go downhill at some point. I didn't completely love the book, but I didn't hate it either. I wouldn't suggest this book if you're looking for a heartwarming love story full of sweet sentiments. White Fur is a crude, exhilarating, grungy romance perfect for some readers, but not all.

This book was so compelling and I couldn’t put it down.

Jamey comes from a rich family and Elise comes from a low-income neighborhood with all its attendant issues. They live next door to each other while Jamey is going to Yale. They are drawn to each other and eventually decide to be together no matter what.

They move to New York. When Jamey’s family find out about Elise, they try and get him to give her up. He doesn’t have much to do with them anyway and decides he’d rather give up his inheritance to keep Elise in his life.

They eventually get married and are happy until one night when they run into Jamey’s friend Matt and they go to dinner at his girlfriend’s house. They lace Jamey’s drink with LSD and it causes him to have a psychotic break.

This book was so good. In the last couple of chapters I was totally on the edge of my seat wondering how the story would end. Highly recommend!

Elise and Jamey are very much in love but from diverse backgrounds. Will their relationship last? a wonderful book, I could not wait to find the outcome. Both characters were so well described, as were their backgrounds and relatives. Wonderful.

This book was a bit too gritty for me. Although a touching story, well written, and honest, it started off very slowly and was heartbreaking.

Oh man, this is my kind of book. Elise and Jayme are an unlikely match. She's from the 'hood' and has had a pretty rough time growing up. He is from privilege and extravagance, movie star mother puts his life in the spotlight. Parties, holidays abroad, Yale education...you get the picture that these two are from different worlds. But yet. There's an attraction and it's urgent, passionate, sexual and desperate.

It starts in New Haven, CT and moves to glitzy New York in the '80's. It's a fast, drug induced, work hard/play hard lifestyle that fits the '80's to a T. Jayme feels like he's "owned" by his parents' money and his future inheritance. Introducing Elise and her raw, uncensored personality is a challenge and is met with opposition and disgust. Both of these characters face their past head on and united. This story moves to unexpected territory when visiting friends. There is only one ending for these two living so dangerously close to the edge.

Thank you Net Galley and Jardine Libaire for the opportunity to read this novel!

Wow! This book was dark, so dark it was at times uncomfortable to read. Am I glad I read this? Yes. Would I recommend this to a friend? No. Only because I do not know anyone who would truly get this book or understand where this young couple was coming from. I could relate more to Elise because of her upbringing a lot more so than I could Jamey. The author did a great job of writing this although I found the first third a bit disjointed in that in jumped around a bit. Thank you Netgalley for sending this read my way for an honest review. It wasn't a novel I requested, but I'm glad I read it.

** spoiler alert ** Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
White fur is the story of a boy and a girl who meet and fall in love. This book is one where the plot follows the day-to-day lives of this boy and girl: how they meet & how they overcome obstacles to be together.
Overall, it was an okay book. The introduction was very good. It's exciting and immediately draws you into the story. But from there the story doesn't really take off. I never got a sense of chemistry between the two characters but I did like how their relationship grew. Elise is a likable character. She's rough around the edges but for the most part seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Sometimes I didn't understand why she was with Jamey as his attitude towards her during a lot of the book was not nice. Jamey annoyed me from the beginning and things didn't get much better by the end. He is basically a spoiled rich boy who doesn't like confrontation. He spends the first half of the book trying to not like Elise and then when he finally does decide he likes her, he spends the second half of the book giving up his inheritance and avoiding his family so as to avoid the confrontation of introducing a poor girl to his friends and family. This really annoyed me and didn't make much sense to me. I wanted to see Jamey stand up to his family and defend Elise and their relationship. He also spends a lot of time philosophizing about life and his relationship and the meaning of everything and it became annoying and felt like more like filler as it did not add anything to the story. I skimmed a lot in these sections.
The ending of the book was odd. This section was another where Jamey went a little extreme in his avoiding life and reality. The very last chapter felt abrupt. I didn't get a sense of completion from the book.
Overall, it was a decent story and very readable despite the fact that I didn't really like one of the characters. Perhaps, if you were a teenager growing up in the eighties you might really enjoy this book. It has a lot of the atmosphere and mentions of historic moments that happened in the eighties.

1980s. Mixed-Race girl from the wrong side of the tracks meets wealthy boy born into a family as close to royalty as one can be in America. Elise is loud, uneducated and floating along. Jamey is privileged, observant and has had his entire future planned since before he was born.

When these two young lovers come together, the world around them won't stand for it. This is a Romeo and Juliet tale with a twist.

"It's gigantic, swollen, pounding on a molecular level like a billion hearts, the way a space does when the people in it realize their power."

This is not the type of story I typically wouldn't be able to resist on the shelves of a book shop, or browsing Amazon. I admit that I'm not the target demographic this book was intended for. I found the writing to be quite good, Libaire has a way with words that would occasionally thrust me directly into the story.

"Love, he thinks, is accidental, fleeting--he can't possibly deserve it."

I found the polarity of Elise, seeking a home she hasn't ever found and Jamey, who doesn't know what love means to be interesting. Something visceral is bringing them together but in stories like these, the center never holds.

"He's never had to be moral. He falls into one of those crevices: a certain kid in a certain society in a certain generation where no decisions remain because his ancestors have finished every single thing within reach."

The build up was slow, glacially slow. The end was an explosion that never came. I knew from about halfway in that the ending wouldn't be satisfying, but I kept reading. Their was something promising in the plot but the execution left much to be desired.

2 stars.

I see elements of strong writing and story telling. Lyrical at times. But 75% in I lost momentum though I finished. I think it was when it became choppy and so many characters weaving through. I am grateful for the free copy but I struggled to get through.

This is an addictive debut novel: a love story that is raw, gritty and sexually explicit. Jamey Hyde and Elise Perez were neighbors in New Haven, CT. They meet and fall in lust love but, their backgrounds couldn't be more different. It's 1986, Jamey is white and a junior at Yale. His family is extremely wealthy. Elise is bi-racial and never even graduated from high school. She grew up in a Bridgeport, CT housing project. Somewhat blinded by the chemistry, Jamey decides to leave Yale in the hopes of building a life with Elise. The couple moves to Manhattan to begin their life together. Without giving away too much I'll just say that all does not go smoothly for this young couple. White Fur is a terrific character driven novel with flawed characters who struggle to keep it together despite prejudices over gender, race and class differences. I was impressed with the writing and thought that the character development and back stories were very well done. The romp around New York City in the mid 1980s made for some great reading. (5/5
stars)http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com/2017/04/books-read-week-in-review-we-4222017.html

This story is an absolute train wreck. You know you should look away, but you can't.

To be fair, the author definitely has a gift with words. They write in such a way that you can absolutely see what they are trying to convey. However, so much of this story doesn't make any sort of sense that even the brilliant descriptions can't save it. I would have LOVED this story if there wasn't the constant reference to these people "being different inside" and "putting on a façade" and any of the million other ways the author tries to say they aren't really connected to humanity. The characters were just weird.

Being from two different worlds? I can get behind that. Complex characters? Totally. Wealthy family immediately being suspicious (or in some cases downright hostile)? Bring it on. Consistently talking about how they "see" but do not see. How they consistently feel a disconnect between themselves and everyone else? That could have been done better.

And the ending? Does not tie up any loose ends. We still don't know what ultimately happens. And that was probably the biggest disappointment.

All things considered, I do believe there are people who will enjoy this novel, and I would read more from this author.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

I loved that this book starts off with a sneak peek of what is happening near the end. It made it all the more intriguing and I couldn't wait to find out how and why Jamey and Elise had gotten to that point. If the ceiling had fell on my head I doubt I would have been able to stop reading.

This was not your usual love story. It was gritty, raw, almost painful at times. Jamey Hyde was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, where as Elise Perez grew up where spoons were something people used to cook their drugs on before shooting up. To say they were opposites is an understatement. Jamey has had everything handed to him and Elise has had nothing. When they first meet Jamey is embarrassed for her, and later when he starts dating her (if you could call hiding away for hours at a time having sex "dating") he is embarrassed by her. Yet somehow they are just meant to be.

DNF so will not be rating or reviewing. Thank you for the opportunity to read this title.

This story is to be read and talked about. A great reminder on how hard it is to really own your life, how love can affect one, how ugly humans can be. I am enchanted by the story and looking forward to its release to re-read and pass on the book to my friends.

Set in the late 80's this reminded me of Pretty in Pink smashed up with Less Than Zero. Jamey was the well to do guy who fell for a girl who from the wrong side of the tracks. Despite how they felt about each other, his family does what they can to force their heir apparent away from the girl he loves.

Else and Jamey, for whatever reason, clicked. They may not have had anything in common, but they brought each other out of their comfort zones. Class, education, even skin color didn't matter to them. Even when it seemed like everyone was against them, even themselves, they still gravitated back to each other.

What I didn't get was why Jamey had to have his "break". Why was that they only way for he and Else to run away from his family and their control? They believed so much in each other (which was evident in the last chapter of the book) that I think they could have made the break without "breaking" Jamey.

This was a quick read that is a little different. The author doesn't sugar coat the differences between the characters and uses those differences in a way to pull them together. I didn't like the last few chapters of the book, but the overall story was a good one.

Elegant. The first third of this story was delicious. This author's way of combining words and phrases is, quite seriously, the best I've ever read. It's a joy to read, a pleasure, a wordgasm. Words and phrases lovingly combined into a head-spinning, lyrical masterpiece. Pure 5 golden star perfection. Then, the rest of the story.

After the first third and before the half way point, I closed this book with no intention of finishing. How many ways can the most talented writer describe sunlight reflected off of windows, the smell of the air on a spring day or a winter day, the people on the street and what they're wearing and doing before even the most enchanted reader gets bored and just wants the story to move forward? The story bogged down. Way, way down...down into never-finishing-the-book down.

I finished the book. I read every...single...page. And it became torture. Even the most talented author, and Jardine Libaire has to be considered extraordinary, must let the story flow. This author will be one I will search for in the future, hoping that her next effort will balance story and skill more evenly. She deserves to be read, and I hope you do. Every reader should experience the pure pleasure of reading such an amazing writer, while hoping the next story will be better.

Enjoy!

2shay

Jamey Hyde and Elise Perez come from two different worlds. He attends Yale and lives a life of wealth and privilege. She doesn't even know who her father is and ran away from home very young without graduating from high school.

When she sees him next door, she knows he will be hers. And a very unusual relationship develops between the two.

A dark version of 1980's Romeo and Juliet. This was a very dark, raw and sexual Romeo and Juliet. Elise was a hard character for me to get a handle on. She owns her awkwardness and her sexuality. She knows what she wants and that is Jamey.

His family is dead set on breaking them up and they are deadset on staying together.

This isn't a 'pretty' love story all wrapped up in sparkly paper. It is at times ugly and hard to watch and some people may not care for the rawness of it.

But once you are into it, you can't seem to let go. It took a while for me to come back to reality!

Why can't we all just get along? A young and loving couple from different sides of the track try to find peace together and make their own world. A great book! It's a winner..

Thanks to NetGalley for offering me a free ARC.

This was the second book in only a few weeks’ time that I was offered free to read in exchange for my honest review.

What can I say, but I should have learned from the one right before (Once In Lourdes) that sometimes free means it is probably being offered for a reason.

So, the story of Elise Perez and Jamie Hyde set in late late 1980s billed as a modern day Romeo and Juliet really couldn’t have been anything further from that.

I admit I was intrigued when I first read this description, but as many shared in their own Goodreads’ review I had trouble getting into this story.

Why?

Because I couldn’t picture a rich and upcoming young guy falling hard for girl from the wrong side of the tracks and giving it all up for her.

Maybe not being a 20 something in the prime of my youth has something to do with it. But still, when I was that age I am pretty sure that this wouldn’t have happened to me or anyone else I knew.

That said, that part of the book actually wasn’t the most unbelievable as the last part actually dealt with the fallout from an evening out with friends, where a drug induced psychosis actually becomes a central theme for latter portion of this novel.

Honestly, I just couldn’t relate at all and even found myself lacking any feelings one way or the other for both of the main characters by the end.